Gavin Newsom has revealed how Donald Trump first reacted when he found out that his daughter Ivanka was dating his now-son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
In his new book, Young Man In A Hurry, the California Governor recalled a trip taken by the president in 2018 after the state was ravaged by wildfires.
While sitting on Marine One, Trump allegedly recounted a story about trying to set his daughter up with NFL legend Tom Brady, only to find out that she was “already dating some schmuck whose father got out of prison,” according to a review of the memoir in The Atlantic.
The president was referring to Jared Kushner, whose father Charles Kushner was convicted of tax evasion and witness tampering in 2005, and who happened to also be sitting on the aircraft with Trump and Newsom and former California Governor Jerry Brown.
“In front of the governor and future governor of California, Trump was making his son-in-law feel two feet tall,” Newsom writes, per the review. “And Kushner just let him do it.”
Charles Kushner received a pardon from Trump at the back end of his first term in the White House, and was announced as the U.S. ambassador to France in a Truth Social post in 2024, following Trump’s second victory.
Kushner, who married Ivanka Trump in 2009, himself has no official role in Trump’s second administration but has reportedly been privy to multiple negotiations in the Middle East, including working alongside special envoy Steve Witkoff to help broker peace between Israel and Hamas.
The two businessmen have raised eyebrows amongst critics due to their sizable roles in foreign policy, having little experience with foreign leaders and the apparent conflicts of interest presented by their various overseas enterprises.
Kushner’s private equity firm, Affinity Partners, was launched in 2021 after he left his role as senior advisor to the president during his first term. The business has since profited by billions of dollars that are tied to some of the geopolitical crises that Kushner now works on in his unofficial capacity.
Meanwhile, Newsom, who is hotly tipped to be eyeing a Democratic presidential run in 2028, continues to spar with Trump regularly and intensely.
Most recently, the California Governor blasted the president’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, suggesting it was boring after labeling it the “State of the Snooze.”
